Reinventing Care : Vanderbilt University Press : 9780826514295 : 0826514294 : 30 Apr 2003 : TThe recent growth of "assisted living" facilities and programs has shaken the foundations of the system of long-term care for the elderly in the United States. Fueled by consumer frustrations with the available options, notably nursing homes, the assisted living model emerged during the 1990s to promise shelter, health care, control of one's own life, less government involvement, and a "real home." But how well have the advocates and developers of assisted living delivered on such promises? And what are the model's implications for public policy and the future of caregiving? In Reinventing Care, David Barton Smith offers brilliant insights into those questions by examining the realities of assisted living in New York City. Encompassing the largest, most concentrated population of elderly in the United States, New York spends more per person caring for its seniors than any other urban center. Ye